See, this is how I think and why Dana is full of ****. If he cut or suspended an undefeated fighter, people will get right back in line.

He cut someone for an old rape van meme. When he has a chance to really make a definitive statement, he whines and is "disgusted" enough to give Jones another payday a few weeks later.

You are correct.

If he was going to make a definitive statement, this would have been the perfect time. Bones is not as well loved as some fighters, and while it would have pissed off some, it would have sent the unmistakable message that White should want to send.

Instead he sent a different, yet still unmistakable message: "I bark a lot, but won't bite usually."

I've got no respect for a contender who turns down a title shot. Machida's never going to be ready to fight Jon Jones. Ever. Nevertheless, he should jump at any opportunity. He's a professional fighter given the opportunity to be the champ. 'Nuff said.

It's not even a smart move strategically. By taking the opportunity you get an immediate title shot with a guy who is probably going to beat your ass. The upside is that you may in fact win and become the champ AND even if you lose you come out looking like a boss for stepping up. By not taking the opportunity you get longer to train but end up fighting a guy who might beat your ass and prevent your title shot from happening at all. And even if you win, you're still probably going to get raped in the title fight. And you look like a disinterested chump. There's just no real benefit to turning down the short notice title fight.

I guess we just disagree, then. The way I see it, Machida has not proven an easy guy to beat; Jones, Shogun, and Rampage are it. Having him fight someone before he fights Jones is not what I'd consider high risk. Having to do that in order to have a full training camp to prepare for Jones is preferable to throwing it away hoping you'll get the fluke victory on a short camp.

If Machida were 3 or 4 fights from contention, it'd be a different matter. If his record were different, likewise. Worst case scenario (I guess) is that we see Machida vs Evans II? Pretty much everyone else is booked up in the near term.

His heart was visible, and the dismal sack that maketh excrement of what is eaten.

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Originally Posted by CNagy

I guess we just disagree, then. The way I see it, Machida has not proven an easy guy to beat; Jones, Shogun, and Rampage are it. Having him fight someone before he fights Jones is not what I'd consider high risk. Having to do that in order to have a full training camp to prepare for Jones is preferable to throwing it away hoping you'll get the fluke victory on a short camp.

If Machida were 3 or 4 fights from contention, it'd be a different matter. If his record were different, likewise. Worst case scenario (I guess) is that we see Machida vs Evans II? Pretty much everyone else is booked up in the near term.

He may never get another title fight. Injuries, losses, anything can happen. A bird in the hand.....

Jones won't fight MW Sonnen, fights Vitor Belfort instead.
Vince confused.
Would have preferred to see Dana White throw every Greg Jackson fighter under bus, like he did when Fitch refused to sign video game contract. Jackson ruined MMA forever.
Lost respect for Jones. Gained a little bit for Chael (he's still in negative numbers, though). Lost respect for Machida as well.
Disgust so great prevents coherent sentence structure. Just as well.

Jones won't fight MW Sonnen, fights Vitor Belfort instead.
Vince confused.
Would have preferred to see Dana White throw every Greg Jackson fighter under bus, like he did when Fitch refused to sign video game contract. Jackson ruined MMA forever.
Lost respect for Jones. Gained a little bit for Chael (he's still in negative numbers, though). Lost respect for Machida as well.
Disgust so great prevents coherent sentence structure. Just as well.

You do bring up an interesting point. Is it that he would not fight a middleweight, Chael Sonnen, and/or with so little time to prepare. It seems the preparation is the biggest issue they had, but then, articles have made mention that others were called in to fight. One would assume, Dana would have went through the list of light-heavies before going to middleweight. The article mentioned a "couple" of guys not wanting to fight Jones on short notice either.

I would bet any amount of money that Jon Jones faces Vitor Belfort and not Chael Sonnen for the simple reason that Dana White didn't want Chael fighting for the belt in the first place. Chael was the desperation pick, the ****-flavored soda in a vending machine all out of other options.

So when the fight got moved to UFC 152, Chael wasn't the go-to guy. Several fighters still turned down taking on Jones with a reduced training camp, but before having to go all the way back down the list to Chael, Belfort stepped up.

Belfort/Jones isn't a bad matchup, really. Despite being frustratingly inconsistent, Belfort can throw hands with the best of them and fought his best fights at LHW. If Jones is to be beat, it will probably be by a powerful striker. Henderson might have done it with a single H-bomb, Belfort is as likely to accomplish it with his Kung Fu Flurry Of Doom.

As usual with Belfort, his chances of winning approach 0 if he doesn't get a KO in the first, however, and I feel that he'll probably suffer death by GnP, but hey, it's a much better matchup than Sonnen.

I would bet any amount of money that Jon Jones faces Vitor Belfort and not Chael Sonnen for the simple reason that Dana White didn't want Chael fighting for the belt in the first place. Chael was the desperation pick, the ****-flavored soda in a vending machine all out of other options.

So when the fight got moved to UFC 152, Chael wasn't the go-to guy. Several fighters still turned down taking on Jones with a reduced training camp, but before having to go all the way back down the list to Chael, Belfort stepped up.

Read the article. A very valid point of view. After all, as fans, we are just speculating based on the "facts" or "lack" thereof that we have. As mentioned by IIF, more info needs to come out. Of course, the sad thing is that, it may take quite a while for all of it to come out. It's definitely good to get some additional point of views. I admit I was pretty pissed and was directing a bit of it at Jones. I guess he can sometimes elicit that kind of response. Probably to Dana as well.

I agree that Jones has to look out for number one. At the end of the day, you have to. It's the reason we quit jobs and the reasons employers let employees go. It just sucks about those fighters who were relaying on this fight at this time. Many have reported that, a lot of times, they are in such dire straights that any delay in funds puts them out of the streets.

I also completely, totally, and utterly agree with the fact that UFC has had way too many cards. One of the things that made it great was the fact that it only came around every so often. My opinion would be to reduce the shows enough to allow people to be emotionally invested again and really want to see other fights but not so much as to put a large majority of them out on their butts.

Still, I'm sure that there is a lot of blame to go around, unfortunately, looks like Jones is going to receive the lions share, at least for the time being.